Love Me Tether
by Princess Melon
Summary: HMDS Cute: Annie and Skye are newlyweds when Annie decides to spend a night away without telling Skye. When she comes back she finds that he's holding a secret from her. Also, there's a stranger in town. Who is he?


The salty ocean air and call of the gulls outside first woke me, and then I jolted upright, remembering where I was, and what I had done. I was on my secret vacation villa island where no one knew where I was. People might be worried about me. I left the island as fast as I could and ran to my farmhouse in a sprint, only stopping once in front of my door to catch the breath that the harsh winter air had taken from me.

Carefully, I opened the door to see if Skye was up. To my own unfortunate self, he was.

He was by the fireplace, and as soon as he caught sight of me he walked briskly across the room, his eyes dark and a tight frown on his lips. Did he not sleep? I at least figured one night away would not have given him insomnia, but instead a great deal of worry. I had figured that, around, perhaps, four in the morning, he would've fallen asleep. But his face told me all I needed to know. His hands raised and I flinched, afraid he would hit me--after all, he was a previous thief. But his hands only cupped my face--his slender, cold fingers gently gracing my cheeks--and pulled my head into his chest. His hands then slowly wrapped around my body and I could feel him kiss the top of my head.

Why were his hands cold if the fire was on? I thought as I stood there, letting him hug me. I tried to push away from him to look at his face but he didn't allow me. I tried two more times after that, both futile. It seemed he could not recover from the shock of me being here. What had given him such a fright as to behave this way about me? Maybe because we were newlyweds? Rubbish. Not true. That cannot be the reason. It was something else.

"Skye?" I tried to ask, his body making it difficult to speak. And then I realized his clothing was messy and not put on right. What on earth had happened? "What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong?'" he imitated my British accent and I cursed my birthplace for it's way of speaking being burned in my mind. "You ask what's wrong?" he asked roughly, this time no accent. His hands fiercely grabbed my shoulders and peel me from him. We stared at each other, his eyes showed only worry, while mine, I assumed, showed rebellion, for he let go, combed his hair with his hand and walked back to the fire.

I never realized he was a passive aggressive. He never seemed the type.

"Skye, please tell me what's wrong." There was a pause where he set an arm against the fireplace mantle and sighed. He must be ignoring me. "I could tell you where I was last night." This took his eyes off the fire and onto me.

"Where were you last night?" His words were kind and soft. His eyes still held surmounts of worry.

My eyes shifted to my feet as guilt started beating its way into my heart. "I was… uh, at the vacation villa… which I bought from… Thomas." I tried to sound not at all shifty. Hopefully, I succeeded.

Skye continued to stare at me. Slowly, his eyes became soft, most of the worry gone. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he only frowned, and then he looked back at the fire. Immediately, I frowned, as well. Was he not going to tell me what was wrong? His attitude was starting to get on my nerves, so I closed the gap between us and looked up at him as he looked into the fire. "Skye, darling, please tell me what's wrong? It couldn't honestly be as bad as you're making it seem. We live in Forget-Me-Not valley, not some city." There was a very long silence before Skye sighed and started to talk.

"But even in Forget-Me-Not there can still be traitors and mindless fools. I've seen them, Annie, and I've screwed them over by stealing from them."

Puzzled, I asked, "What do you mean?" But he only shook his head and said it was nothing. That was a lie to not only me but himself. "It's not nothing. You're drawing this out longer than it needs to be. Get on with it."

Suddenly he gave an angry sigh and closed his eyes. Opening them, he stared at me, I could tell he was angry. "Know what? You're right. It's not as bad as I thought it was. You don't need to know."

"You're such a cheap liar, Skye. I give up," I said and stomped off to bed, despite it being early morning.

"Don't you have farm work?"

"I'm taking the day off. I'm sure the animals can handle one day without their owner. Why don't you go out and get a job?"

Sighing, Skye put on his shoes and jacket and left without saying a word. Angrily, I muttered, "He can go out but I can't? Talk about jealousy." For the following few hours I reminisced upon the events Skye and I shared together, all those times when he's tried theft while I tried to stop him. I guess it was thanks to me that Skye stopped his old thieving habits.

…

Why were his hands cold when he touched me? Had he been outside looking for me? His lips had been cold, too. Maybe he was looking for me. Knowing this made me feel even more guilt for making him worried. But the reason for this odd peak of worry made me wonder. What was out there in Forget-Me-Not valley that could make a phantom thief worry like that? It's not that I'm--hopefully--his beloved, and it's not that we're newlyweds. His reaction was too drastic.

Perhaps I'm over thinking this. Could I even be under thinking or not thinking in the right direction? I could talk to someone else in the town…

I sat up and shrugged out of my shawl in favor of some proper winter wear. I walked out of the house, went to the stable to get my house, and rode down to the Blue Bar before Muffy left for the Goddess Pond. I caught her on her way to the pond.

"Hey, Muffy!" She swiveled around to face me and then smiled.

"Good morning, Annie. Lovely day, isn't it?"

"It's snowing…"

"Yes, but isn't it crisp and clear? Nothing like this in the city." She seemed proud of it.

"Muffy, I have to ask you something," I said as I dismount from my horse. She perked up, giving me her full attention. "Did something happen last night?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

"Alright, then. Goodbye, Ann--Oh, wait! I remember Griffin telling me to not go out at night anymore. He didn't tell me why, though."

My eyes tightened. "So should I go see Griffin?"

"No. He's left the valley for today. Wednesday, remember?" Sighing, I nodded.

"Thanks, anyway, Muffs."

"Bye, Annie." I mount my horse and decide to take a trot around town. Eventually, my thoughts wander to Skye and where he would be right now. Usually, he'd be at home. My guess is that he's in Mineral town, or the City not too far from the Valley.

I find myself at the beach and I scour the sands for familiar faces. Takakura is way off to one side and Cody is by the benches watching the lapping winter waves. It was a while until I noticed Rock, and by the time he called me over Cody and Takakura had left. Rock was behind me on the beach and seemed exceptionally radiant today. Did he dress up for Lumina?

"Annie! Hey, do you want to hang out? Let me think…" I dismount my horse and stare at him blankly.

"Hello, Rock. Nice snowy weather, isn't it? At least that's what Muffy thinks."

"Well, since there's only two of us…" I froze, but then he shook his head. "No, I can't do that! I change my mind. It would make your husband angry if rumors were to start about you having an affair. I want nothing to do with it! Go home." Rock suddenly turns and walks away, leaving me stunned. I was appalled Rock would even think of something like that. Him being the Valley's playboy is not enough of an excuse. I'm married and he has Lumina--not that they're married, though.

I trot back to my home, picking up white grass along the way--always thinking about Skye--when I saw a strangely man walk across the bridge from Vesta's farm towards Lumina's mansion. I stop and watch until he suddenly makes a turn and passes by the Blue Bar towards the beach, where I had just come from. Thinking nothing of it, I continue on home in hopes of seeing Skye. Luckily, he's home.

"Annie, where did you go?"

"For Christ sake, Skye, it's the early afternoon. Nothing's going to happen." Sighing, he nodded along with my words.

"I guess you're right." Was something still up? I thought as I take off my heavy, think winter clothing.

"Why were your hands cold this morning? Were you outside looking for me?"

Skye seemed quite taken aback by this for he leaned against the kitchen counter, then sighed. "Yes. Because it was snowing I didn't go for my usual walk. After midnight, when you still didn't return home, I got worried and went out to look for you."

"What time did you come home?"

He was hesitant about answering me. "A-around seven this morning."

"So you had only just walked in and set the fire before I walked in? What are the chances of that?" I said. It was by great chance that I had come home soon after him.

"Annie, I worry about you a lot because--" he started but I cut him off by holding up my hand and walking over to him.

"I know, I know," I whisper to him and wrap my arms around his torso. Slowly, his hands raise to stroke my hair and slide down my back, where they stayed.

"I love you. I just started to hold you--I don't want to loose you."

"I know, I know. I love you, too, but don't you think you're being a little too paranoid?" I looked up at him and his sad, pathetic smile. "Because we're newlyweds?"

"Not at all. It's not you I don't trust--it's other people." I feel a light blush appear on my cheeks and I look down.

"Th-thank you, Skye."

"Love?" he whispers and raises my chin with his slender fingers. "Can I kiss you?" I feel my face burn. I can't speak so I only nod. He smiles as he leans down and kisses me.


End file.
